Did you hear about the TV ad that was so offensive it was banned…? As part of the ‘Cola Wars’ (1) Pepsi screened the following…
A small boy is seen walking towards a can machine. He buys a can of coke and places it on the floor next to the machine. He does the same thing again. He then steps on the two cans of coke, and uses his newly gained height to reach up to the top button to press for the Pepsi. He walks away merrily with his Pepsi, leaving the cokes on the floor.
Why was it banned? Surely it’s a great ad…
Coca Cola complained that although it improved the image of Pepsi, as ads do, it did so by quashing that of Coca Cola. This they felt was inappropriate.
This ad stands as a good parable for loshon hora (derogative gossip). Everyone wants to be popular in their social circles, be admired and stand tall. There are two basic ways to achieve this status:
- Either through becoming a nice, pleasant and desirable person, thus standing out for goodness.
- Or through no personal growth, rather putting down those around you.
In either case the result is the same, you remain on top, the alpha male, head of the pack. However the second means is dirty play, a cheap way of winning. Just as Pepsi could have demonstrated their own value without quashing coke, so too Judaism expects a person to achieve his social standard without treading on others.
Along these lines a Chassidic master once taught, ‘when someone opens their mouth to talk about someone else, they are saying more about themselves than about the other person’.
This is perhaps why one who contracts tzoraas (caused through engaging in loshon hora) is expelled from the community until the ailment passes. He attempted to push others down, the Torah thus prescribes him the opposite treatment—hopefully this will put him in his place and cause him to realize that an alternative method of attaining social prestige, namely, option one above, is preferable.
May we merit to successfully guard our tongue and not speak evil of others.
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- 1. Contest between Coca Cola and Pepsi to have a majority of the market